


Puppets and holidays

by Hyfriancarousel



Category: Smile For Me (Video Game)
Genre: Character Development, Christmas Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Holidays, Post-Good Ending (Smile For Me Video Game), Puppets, Robbery, Snow, Teamwork
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:48:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28413399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hyfriancarousel/pseuds/Hyfriancarousel
Summary: Habit decides to put on a holiday puppet show for the Habiticians.
Kudos: 13





	Puppets and holidays

**Author's Note:**

> Pabit is referred to as Lil' Habby throughout the fic.

“A puppet… snow. Puppets… bells… holly-days…”

Habit scratched the back of his neck as he thought. Usually, he would have done so to the back of his other hand, but it was inhabited by Lil’ Habby at the moment. The puppet’s face was much like his own, but smaller. Happier too, perhaps.

Habit’s room creaked in the silence. The desk he leaned against was leaning forward. A glass of juice teetered off the side, but didn’t fall. He should get a bigger desk, as he had to sit rather uncomfortably to reach its surface.

A knock came from his office door. Well, from its side.

“What are ya doing, doc?”

Kamal leaned on the door frame, sipping a cup of something hot. The drink’s rich aroma seeped into the room. 

Coffee.

Habit faced Kamal. His hair looked like ground coffee beans. Fitting. Habit gave him a cheerful smile.

“Think-in of a name for my show :)” He said, words sweet.

Kamal raised an eyebrow. He moved his mug back before swallowing the last of his coffee.

“Huh?” 

A brighter smile from Habit. The long locks of hair moved as he did.

“I will put a puppet sho-oh on for the kid-eyes! and anyone else who wants to clock : - )” Habit stood up, looming over both the desk and Kamal. “It well be fun!”

Kamal blinked. He leaned forward.

“... Puppets?” 

The room creaked mysteriously; the sound coming from within the floorboards. Habit smiled.

“Yes : - )”

Kamal took the mug into both of his hands, moving closer to both the desk and Habit. Well, it wasn’t like the desk was empty. Filled with puppets, each one resembling a person who had come to the habitat to cheer up.

Kamal looked up at Habit, who towered over him even more now.

“Where did you get these?” 

Habit leaned down. Habit let Lil’ Habby drink some of his juice. The puppet’s material was made to not be tainted. But it was for kids, after all! A cute mascot! 

He moved his hands.

“I made them!”

Kamal’s eyes widened.

“Really?”

“Yes!”

“I didn’t know you could make puppets.” Kamal blinked in confusion, but also in amazement. “Always figured you got Lil’ demon- I mean...Habby over there commissioned or somethin’.”

To be honest, arts and crafts had become important to Boris. Something to take his mind off of things. Like all his self-portraits he had painted around the habitat! The mural in that office must still be there. 

Art is a beautiful way to express feelings. Whether it is painting or puppets! If he believed hard enough, he could get through to anyone. 

Lil’ Habby was left moveless on the table as Boris took a drink himself. He smiled at the sweet taste.

“I’m soo berry happy, Kamal.”

“That’s great, doc.”

Habit moved the glass.

“The puppet show will be a success, and everything will be okay :)” 

Such soft words. This was the Habit that was trying his very best to make everything better for himself and others. Kamal smiled.

“Of course, doc.”

\---

“KAMAL!”

A shout woke Kamal. Snuggling under his blanket wasn’t an option now. Something was wrong.

The white ceiling in his apartment looked more gray in the semi-darkness of his room.

“What? Huh? What is it?” He muffled out, trying to find the light switch on the lamp on his nightstand.

Boris poked his head into the bedroom.

“I can’t find Lil’ Habby! D:”

His hair was frazzled. Bedhead from waking up. Kamal batted his eyes.

“... Huh?”

It was four in the morning. 

\---

In the middle of the night, the puppets had disappeared, as if into thin air. Kamal looked around habit’s office, picking up scattered papers from the floor.

“You’re sure you didn’t just...place them somewhere else?”

Habit huffed.

“I think I woooould remembur that :C”

He sounded sad. Kamal patted Habit’s back. Well, the part he could reach of it anyway.

“We can go look for them in the morning, okay?” A softer voice came from him. Being calm was important. “I think we both just need...sleep. So much sleep.”

Habit sighed.

“...You’re right :( That’s the reasonable thing to do :(”

Hugging himself closer to Habit’s sweater, Kamal tried to emit good feelings. They’d surely reach him.

\---

“Fluuwer child!”

The kid nodded their head at Boris’s voice, acknowledging him. 

They had met during the day outside the city’s café. A place they both knew well.

After the failed attempts at locating the puppets within Habit’s and Kamal’s apartment, they had to be elsewhere. And that meant that they needed more eyes. Helpful ones. Just like the Flower kid.

Habit ran to Flower kid’s side, out of breath but determined. 

The size difference was staggering. Even with a year from their last meeting face to face, Flower kid hadn’t grown. 

Habit fiddled with his mittens.

“Plis help me :(“

Flower kid tapped Boris’s hand. A comforting gesture. It was the least they could do to help the other calm down.

“My puppets have gone missing, as you know :(,“ Boris said, “I can’t find them anywhere!”

Kamal, with much shorter legs than Habit, finally made it to the duo.

“Thanks for helping us, Flower kid.” He took a breath to get his voice stable. “We’ll find things easier with more people, right?”

A nod. Truly, a little helper. Flower kid was always ready to help people. Seemed to be their whole thing.

It made them a good person.

Entering the café made Habit much calmer. Getting a cup of hot chocolate not only helped to ease his mind, but made him focus as well. To solve this mystery, one must be in a clear state of mind.

Habit and Kamal sat on the side of a table, while Flower kid was opposite them. It smelled sweet, like freshly fallen snow turned cotton candy.

“Okay, let’s think about this,” Kamal piped up from Habit’s side. “Who would steal those - slightly creepy - puppets?”

He looked at Habit, petting his arm in apology. He continued.

“Besides, this show was told only to those who stayed at the habitat. A Christmas… what did you call it?”

Habit sniffed.

“A puppet holiday show :c”

Kamal kept petting his arm, trying to make him feel less sad.

“Right. So, no one else would have known that the puppets even...existed.”

The chatter from the other tables drowned out Kamal’s talking, but that gave him more time to gather his thoughts.

“And it’s not just some robber.” He moved his hand off of Habit, pointing it at the table instead. “They didn’t take the tv or my laptop. They left everything except the puppets.”

“So the thief must be one of the habiticians.”

Flower kid tilted their head. Lifting their hand to their chin, they pondered in their usual silence. Habiticians, thieves? Didn’t seem likely.

...Wait.

Flower kid removed their blue beanie, moving their hair with the motion. Kamal raised his brows.

“Hm? what’s wrong?”

Flower kid gathered their strands of hair and pushed them up into a high ponytail. Habit turned his head, placing the mug of hot chocolate on the table.

“You look like the purple child.”

Kamal leaned against Habit’s shoulder.

“Tim Tam? Yeah, they kinda do-”

He pushed himself away from Habit, moving back up straight in realization.

“... You don’t think-?”

Flower kid nodded. Kamal stared at them before sighing.

“... Okay. Makes sense.”

He rubbed his temples.

“How do they know our address…?”

\---

The trio left the café in a hurry - after paying, of course - and rather aimlessly ran through the city streets. Looking for Tim Tam at their house would be useless, as the child was chaos incarnate. Most likely, they were disposing of their findings. Tim Tam had always been fond of fire.

Flower kid ran ahead, with Habit and Kamal close behind. In fact, Habit was carrying Kamal, as he was much faster - long legs help - and his assistant wasn’t really a runner to begin with.

“How are we gonna find them?!”

Kamal shouted for Flower kid, who was still somehow outrunning Habit. Seriously, how can they be so fast?

There was really no obvious answer to Kamal’s question. The only things they had going for them was that the city was small and that Tim Tam liked to see things be destroyed. If they could see smoke or find the right street, they could literally run into them.

Flower kid rounded the corner, feet pummeling the snow below. That same need to help. The aura of a friend. The need for smiles to exist. Who else would run so feverishly for the sake of puppets?

The trio made their way to an alleyway. Smoke rises from further forward, a similar structure of tires, just like within the carnival.

Near them, a child. A purple, high-pony-tailed child.

Tim Tam. And not only them either.

Next to them, a pile of puppets on top of a dumpster. Their arms were so little, they could hold only one at a time. 

Forgetting the surprising amount of luck they had during this entire search, Kamal weaseled himself off Habit’s hold.

A stare off in the alleyway.

“You really nailed it with that deduction,” Kamal said, walking next to Flower kid.

Tim Tam’s head turned like a yowl’s, eyes unblinking for a concerning amount of time.

“... Cops.”

Kamal’s breath hitched.

“No-”

Habit’s face hadn’t held a smile in a while. His frown got deeper.

“We’re not cups :c”

Tim Tam started at the puppet in their hands, shifting their gaze between it, the pile, and the suddenly appeared trio. They tilted their head towards the intruders, slowly inching closer.

“... Stolen.”

Flower kid followed the motion, but Kamal placed his hand on their shoulder. He faced Habit, who still stood behind. He didn’t look like himself. The sadness got to him again.

“Look.” Kamal turned back to Tim Tam. “Even though the puppets are a little creepy, this means a lot to Boris. He’s trying so hard to be better.”

Another height difference, but not as dramatic. Tim Tam kept staring at Kamal. Their eyes were open wide.

Kamal moved closer.

“You understand, right? He needs them to put on a happy holiday puppet show.”

He kneeled in the snow in front of Tim Tam. They pulled the puppet closer to themselves. Kamal tilted his head.

“You don’t need to be there,” he said, “But don’t hurt him like this.”

“...”

Quietly, Tim Tam looked at Kamal. Enormous eyes frozen, staring at his face.

“If you… want them, for some reason,” Kamal said, “you should ask Boris for them directly.”

Still silent. Tim Tam’s hold on the puppet got looser, the fabric moving more.

“... Okay.”

Tim Tam pushed the doll, puppet into Kamal’s hands.

“... Sorry.” 

They hopped back, then to the dumpster and on top of it. Staring at the pile of puppets before scaling a wall like a lizard, disappearing from sight.

Kamal’s face was stuck to surprise. A bit from Tim Tam’s retreat, but mostly because…

He moved the puppet in his hand, looking at it closer. It was perfectly fine, if a bit cold to the touch. He looked back up.

“… Huh. That was… the first time they returned something.”

“Lil’ Habby! And friends! :D” 

Boris hugged Kamal, almost crashing him into the snow.

“They’re back! :D” 

Kamal tried to move, but he was effectively stuck. Then again, Boris’s hug was warm.

“Looks...like it,” he chuckled. Flower kid blinked before joining Kamal’s laugh.

“Tim Tam :)” Habit raised his head, “You’re still invited! :D Come enjoy the show!”

Behind a wall, still in hearing distance, Tim Tam looked back at the trio that interrupted their holiday.

“... Cool.”


End file.
